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Unit 7 - Social-Emotional Development During Middle Childhood and Early Adolescence
Unit 7 - Social-Emotional Development During Middle Childhood and Early Adolescence
• The school system is really important for this stage, as it provides opportunities for skill
development on numerous levels and social interaction:
o Acquiring new skills (e.g. reading, writing, maths)
o Expanding their knowledge base
o Sports – teamwork, matches
o Other extracurricular activities (e.g. music, drama, etc)
• Successful resolution of this stage leads to a sense of competency
• Praise further nurtures sense of pride and encourages child to set new goals
• Inferiority develops when a child receives repeated negative feedback from others
• The feedback can take various forms (e.g. marks, comments to child and others, etc.)
• Unrealistic expectations and goals further contribute to the development of inferiority
• It is important to keep Urie Bronfenbrenner’s ecological
theory in mind when working with adolescents and their
families:
o Microsystem: Where the individual lives (family,
school, peers, etc.)
o Mesosystem: Links between the microsystem
(e.g. connections between family and peers)
o Exosystem: Influences from other settings that
the adolescent does not necessarily experience
directly but is affected by nonetheless
(e.g. the parents’ work environment)
o Macrosystem: The culture in which the adolescent
comes from
o Chronosystem: The set of sociohistorical circumstances
that the adolescent finds themselves in
• Imagine that we are seeing an increase in drunk-driving
o What are the causes of this?
o How would we possibly think of addressing this?
• Linear / individualistic model:
o People choosing to drink and drive
o People can’t handle their alcohol
o People are choosing to break the law, etc.
• Systemic model:
o Socio-economic, where people are drinking as an escape from depression and / or boredom
of unemployment
o Reduction in effort to educate people on dangers of drinking and driving
o Poor public transport and high cost of cabs over weekends and holidays
• Systemic model:
o Address public transport, more policing presence, regulate costs of cabs over weekend etc.
o Programmes to upskill the unemployed, etc.
• The traditional, individualistic approach tended to focus on the intrapsychic world
of the child, and their interaction with their mother
o Causality is viewed in a linear way; assumed to be parent (mother) to child
o Focused on the individual, not relationships!
o This linear causality tends to be the approach Western societies have
• For grown children of parents who were part of the migrant system: How have they
learned how to parent? Who was their model?
• There are two general parenting dimensions
1. Warm & responsive vs hostile & uninvolved
2. Extreme control vs no control
o Psychological control
o Behavioural control
• Four parenting styles result from combining the two dimensions and their two levels
• The authoritative parent is:
o Affectionate and engaged with their child
o Able to set limits and follow through with consequences
o Able to use reasoning, logic, and (appropriate) negotiation
o Able to empower their child to make their own decisions
• A child of an authoritative parent is likely to be:
o Happy
o Responsible
o A problem-solver
o Self-motivated
o Confident to attempt tasks and activities
o Cooperative with others
o A leader
o Most likely to be a good student
• The authoritarian parent is:
o Emotionally aloof / unavailable
o ‘Bossy’
o Likely to use phrases such as “I told you so” or “You must do this because I am telling you to”
o Uses disciplinary measures of physical punishment and / or verbal insults
o Often dismissive of their child’s feelings
• A child of an authoritarian parent is likely to be:
o Often moody
o Anxious
o Well-behaved
o A follower amongst their peer group
o An average-to-good student
• The permissive or indulgent parent is:
o Very affectionate
o Anxious to please their child
o Indulgent
o Likely to struggle to say ‘no’ / set limits & follow through with consequences
o Likely to be quite easily manipulated
• A child of a permissive parent is likely to be:
o Often very demanding
o Somewhat ‘whiny’, moody, vindictive
o Easily frustrated / unregulated
o May lack empathy with others, may be unkind to others
o Have trouble keeping friends
o A poor-to-average student, with a low interest in school
o A follower
• The neglectful or passive parent is:
o Emotionally uninvolved with their child
o Uninvolved with child’s life in general
o Does not discipline
o Inconsistent and unpredictable (may be overindulgent)
• A child of a neglectful parent is likely to be:
o More clingy and needy during childhood
o Often in trouble (destructive, detached)
o May develop addictions
o Poor self-control
o A poor student, very unmotivated with little or no confidence in their ability
o A follower
o Socially incompetent , often withdraws
o Inappropriate in their actions and what they say (rude & disorespectful))
• Think of a child who has messed their toys all around the room
• The authoritarian parent would tell their child to tidy up or risk being punished (no
consideration of the child’s needs or why they are reluctant to tidy up)
• The permissive parent would likely clear up the toys themselves (whims of the child are
indulged)
• Neglectful parent would ignore the mess (as would the child) (child’s needs are not
considered)
• The authoritarian parent would tell the child to clean up their toys and explain why, and
possibly introduce some boundaries (usually taking the form of introducing fair
consequences such as limiting the number of toys the child can play with until they have
learned how to clear up) (child’s needs are considered and they have a chance to learn
autonomy)
o China: value emotional restraint and obedience; parents thus tend to be more
authoritarian
o Low SES entails stress due to HIV/AIDS, low income, lesser education, and/or a need
to protect children from danger
• Direct instruction: telling children what to do, when, and explaining why
o Coaching: helping children master social and emotional skills; explaining links
between behaviour and emotions
• Modelling: learning by observing and imitating what parents do and say
• Feedback through reinforcement: strengthening desirable behaviours through rewards
• Punishment can be effective
o Prompt, consistent, explained, within a good parent child relationship
• Punishment has some serious drawbacks
o Suppressive, temporary effects, undesirable side effects
• Spanking is ineffective in getting children to comply with parents
• Time-out
• Parents and children affect each other’s behaviour and family (dys)functioning
• Parenting styles differ with the child’s age, cognitive development, and temperament
o Adolescents desire more autonomy and input into decision-making
▪ Well-being flourishes as parents gradually relinquish control
o Temperamentally active children may require greater parental control
• Birth order of children often affects their position of power in the family
• Poverty, social isolation, and some cultural factors may be factors that contribute to abuse
• Friends have similar interests, attitudes toward school, recreational pursuits, future
plans, and drug use
• Children benefit from good friendships
o Higher self-esteem
o Less likely to be lonely or depressed
o Act more prosocially
o Cope better with stresses
• Risks of friendships
o Reinforce each other’s aggressiveness and risky behaviours
• Clique: Small group of child or adolescent friends similar in attitudes, sex, race, and age
• Crowd: Larger mixed-sex group of older children with similar attitudes and values
• Children of parents who are authoritative join crowds endorsing adult behavioural
standards
• Children of parents who are neglectful or permissive join crowds disavowing these
standards
• Dominance hierarchy: groups with a leader to whom others defer
• Girls and older boys: Having the best skills to fulfil group’s purpose determines who leads
o Being outgoing and having good ideas qualifies one to lead class projects
• Peer pressure: pressure to conform to group norms
• Controversial: classmates are divided; some like while others dislike the child
• Average child is liked and disliked by some classmates, but with lower intensity than
above categories
• Chronic bullying victims have low self-esteem, dislike school, and are often lonely,
anxious, and depressed
• Risks for being victimised include children either being aggressive themselves or
withdrawn and submissive